View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 4.5 (164 ratings)
- Date Released: November 6, 2007
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: XL Recordings
Rarities and acoustic versions from Iceland’s haunting post-rockers.
-
We Say...
This double album is a companion to the excellent 2007 film Heima, a beautiful documentary following Sigur Ros through their native Iceland, and comes in two parts. The first half, Hvarf, is a collection of songs that never made it onto any of their studio albums, ending up on cutting-room floors, victims of the band's extra-tight quality control.
Spanning Sigur Ros’ long and winding career, they offer glimpses of the extremities to which they’ve pushed their post-rock template. “Í Gær,” for example, sees the band at one of their heaviest moments, a furious blast recorded during their brief prog-rocking period of mid-2006. “Von,” meanwhile, is a breathtaking cacophony of sweeping strings and muted drum crescendos dating back to the band's earliest incarnation, in 1995.
For such an inventive and organic collective, it’s perhaps not surprising that the second album, Heim, which is an assortment of popular Sigur Ros tracks played acoustically, was recorded in the field. From far-flung spots on the West Fjords (“Heysátan”) to empty community halls (“Ágætis Byrjun”) these were captured spontaneously, and their sparse beauty mirrors the locations where they were committed to tape. It's breathtaking. -
They Say...
After floating in the same cirrus clouds for a decade, it would seem that the time has come for a change. Not to say that the lulling orchestral swells or Jon Birgisson's schoolboy falsetto have lost any of their magic over time; it's just that after releasing 40-some similar-sounding songs with undecipherable lyrics, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate one from the next. However, Hvarf/Heim isn't the album to mark a musical departure for Sigur Rós. The bandmembers show no real sign of abandoning their style, so it seems understandable that they would want to show fans another side of themselves. Disc one, Hvarf, is a five-track collection of rarities from their vaults. The handful of tracks doesn't quite make for a fulfilling full-length, but with two of the songs almost hitting the ten-minute mark, the disc's entirety feels much longer than a mere EP. Consistently sprawling and lunar, the songs would feel right at home on Takk... or ( ). The standout track, "Hljómalind," is one of the more concise and traditional songs crafted over their journey, with the traditional instrumentation of reversed chimes and bowed guitar delays sawing textures into the fabric of the song, just before giving way to a powerful rock chorus from the mouth of a gently meowing alien. The traditional slow build is ignored for dynamics, and an unusually tangible hook hits like an old-fashioned punch to the face. The second disc, Heim, is comprised of six acoustically performed versions of favorites from their back catalog. Surprisingly, these songs don't sound remarkably different from the originals. Even without an electric guitar droning, they aren't sparse or minimal in the least, due to an additional string quartet, Amiina, filling in the gaps to create a lush soundscape. The reworkings are subtle, but the versions of "Samskeyti" and "Starálfur" remain beautiful and are slightly warmer and even more fragile than the originals. Completists will find this double-disc supplement of material appealing, and new fans wanting to get a quick feel for the band will probably enjoy it too, but the true excitement revolving around this promises to be in the accompanying release of the Heima DVD, a documentary -- with gorgeous cinematography -- that follows Sigur Rós' 2006 tour of their homeland and features music from these discs, which is perfectly fitting for a slow-motion shot of an iceberg melting in a spring sunrise.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
| 01. |  |
Salka |
6:11 |
|
| 02. | |
Hljómalind |
4:58 |
|
| 03. | |
Í Gær |
6:28 |
|
| 04. | |
Von |
9:17 |
|
| 05. | |
Hafsól |
9:50 |
|
| 06. | |
Samskeyti [Live] |
5:24 |
|
| 07. | |
Starálfur [Live] |
5:30 |
|
| 08. | |
Voka [Live] |
5:22 |
|
| 09. | |
Ágætis Byrjun [Live] |
6:38 |
|
| 10. | |
Heysátan [Live] |
4:45 |
|
| 11. | |
Von [Live] |
8:14 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 72:37 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Sigur Ros, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Sigur Ros fans
Choose from over 6 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC